Immigration Fraud: Citizenship And Immigration

Calgary Herald Dept: Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is on a mission to reshape Canada's image as a soft target for immigration fraud by cracking down on human smugglers and crooked consultants. We applaud him for that. A tough approach similar to the Australian model will cease to make Canada a haven for desperate people willing to risk their lives to make a dangerous passage across the Pacific and be victimized by smugglers who charge as much as $50,000 for a chance at a new life here. Queue-jumping is also unfair to the millions who have come here through legitimate channels, according to Calgary Herald. However, the unprecedented scale of the crackdown is worrisome. Although Kenney said the "vast majority" of 1,800 are living outside the country in tax havens, some of those being targeted might easily be victims who literally ran for their lives from certain death and who paid people they assumed were legitimate agents and in the past 34 years, only 63 Canadians have had their citizenship revoked for reasons of fraud, false identity, or criminality, including seven who were complicit in war crimes. Suddenly, Ottawa has uncovered 1,800 Canadians who are being stripped of their citizenship for allegedly gaining their status here by fraudulent means. According to Kenney, many of the 1,800 are citizens of convenience who don't even reside in Canada. Kenney says widespread residency fraud is perpetrated by unscrupulous consultants who create fake addresses with phoney utility bills that they submit as proof of residency, charging clients thousands of dollars. There can be no arguing with a crackdown that targets such fraudsters. RCMP discovered 300 people all claiming their address to be a Mississauga cultural centre, when none actually lived there. As reported in the news.
@t human smugglers, soft target